Photo/Illutration The Okazaki Police Station in Aichi Prefecture where a man died under police custody (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OKAZAKI, Aichi Prefecture--A 43-year-old diabetic died in police custody after being denied medication, according to police sources.

Even though the man told officers at Okazaki Police Station in Aichi Prefecture that he suffered from diabetes, he was not allowed to see a doctor or be given medicine, the sources said.

The prefectural police are investigating whether the officers violated any law in their treatment of the man, as well as any link between depriving him of medication and his death.

The unemployed individual was detained in late November after being arrested on suspicion of obstructing an officer from going about public duties.

Because he behaved erratically and was shouting in his cell, officers moved him to a “protection room” at the police station to isolate him.

When his violent behavior didn’t stop, officers restrained him. They shackled his wrists with a handcuff belt and bound his legs with rope to keep him still.

An officer patrolling the cells around 4:35 a.m. on Dec. 4 found him lying motionless in the protection room and called an ambulance.

The law on penal detention facilities stipulates that if a person in detention suffers from an illness, police must have a doctor give him or her appropriate medical treatment and ensure other necessary medical measures are taken.

The Okazaki Police Station’s treatment of the man may have breached this rule.

The man was transferred to a hospital in Okazaki but pronounced dead around one hour later.

An autopsy determined he died of kidney failure. It also found scratch marks on his hip.

Before being detained, the man told officers at the police station that he suffered from chronic mental illness as well as diabetes.

Officers allowed him to see a doctor about his mental state so he could be prescribed medicine.

Prior to his detention, the man had taken medicine for his diabetes.

He spent more than 100 hours straight in the restraints, according to police sources.

The law on penal detention facilities allows officers to physically restrain inmates if certain conditions are met, such as whether a person poses a risk of self-harm.

However, the law doesn’t stipulate how long officers are allowed to keep a person restrained.

“Seeing as the law doesn’t say how long officers are allowed to use things such as handcuffs (to restrain inmates), I believe it is defective,” said Itaru Fukushima, professor emeritus of Criminal Law at Ryukoku University in Kyoto. “The officers should have taken steps, such as letting the man see a doctor at a certain interval.”

The Aichi prefectural police require its officers to check on inmates around the clock when they are being physically restrained because the procedure imposes a significant physical burden on the person.

The prefectural police suspect that insufficient attention was paid to the man.

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